Kam Thandi speaks with Demetra Markopoulos, Head of Fleets at ServiceUp, about where fleet operations actually stand right now: rising repair costs, supply chain disruption, and what AI and EVs (electric vehicles) are changing on the ground.

Demetra walks through her own path in the automotive industry, what she has learned managing fleets, and why repair quality decides how much a vehicle costs over its life. The conversation also covers Fleet-as-a-Service and where autonomous vehicles fit into the next few years of fleet work.

Takeaways from the episode

• The fleet industry is in transition, with new technology arriving faster than most operating models were built for.
• Rising costs and supply chain problems are the two pressures fleet operators feel most.
• Electric vehicles and AI are both landing as positives in fleet operations.
• Downtime is still the challenge at the top of the list.
• Quality repairs are what keep a small problem from becoming an expensive one later.
• There are persistent misconceptions about when OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts are actually required.
• Investing in driver training and safety pays for itself in avoided repair volume.
• Fleet-as-a-Service is an emerging model that takes work off internal teams.

OEM versus aftermarket, without the folklore

The OEM question gets argued at four in the afternoon on a phone call with a shop, which is the worst possible time and the worst possible format. It belongs in a written parts policy that your shops receive before they ever touch a vehicle.

A usable policy answers four things.

• Which components are always OEM. Safety systems, anything tied to an ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) sensor, and anything still covered by a factory warranty are the usual entries.
• Which components default to aftermarket or remanufactured. Wear items and cosmetic panels on vehicles past a set age or mileage usually qualify.
• Who can override the default, and what evidence they need to do it.
• What happens when an OEM part is on backorder past a set number of days, including whether the vehicle waits or gets released with a documented follow up.

That last line is the one that saves the most calendar. Backorders are where supply chain disruption turns into downtime, and a vehicle waiting on a part with nobody authorized to make a call can sit for a week without anyone deciding anything.

What this means for your operation

Downtime being the top challenge is easy to agree with and hard to act on until it has a number attached. Two are worth reporting monthly.

The first is the share of your fleet out of service, calculated as vehicles down divided by total vehicles, measured on the same day each week. A 120-vehicle fleet sitting at 2.5 percent has three vehicles unavailable at any moment, which is either a spare pool you are paying for or a route you cannot cover.

The second is vehicle days out per month, calculated as repair orders multiplied by average days in shop. That same 120-vehicle fleet running 20 repair orders a month at five days each is 100 vehicle days. Take one day off the average and you get 20 vehicle days back without touching a labor rate, a parts discount, or a contract.

Both numbers come from data you already have in your repair orders. Neither requires a new system to start measuring.

Where to skip to

• 00:00 Introduction to Demetra
• 05:19 Shifts in fleet management: technology and trends
• 07:07 Challenges in fleet repair: downtime and costs
• 12:02 Hidden costs in fleet repair management
• 13:11 Emerging trends in fleet
• 15:00 Future proofing fleet operations
• 16:26 Myths in fleet repair: OEM versus aftermarket parts
• 18:30 Differences between mechanical and collision repairs
• 19:27 Preparing for electrification and autonomous vehicles
• 24:19 Managing uncertainty in fleet operations
• 26:05 Success stories: improving fleet repair efficiency
• 28:41 Advice for newcomers in the automotive industry

ServiceUp is the agentic repair platform for modern fleets. Every estimate gets audited against your pricing, warranty, and maintenance policies, including the parts rules above, so overcharges get flagged and valid repairs clear in seconds instead of sitting in a queue. More at serviceup.com/fleets.